Cozy Builder Review – Does What It Says On The Tin

A lot of games chasing the “cozy” trend promise more than they deliver, building up their stories and mechanics before release, but ultimately disappointing their players. Cozy Builder, on the other hand, is exactly what it says on the tin: the game is cozy, and you are a builder.

First of all, we have some core tenants of the cozy genre: non-violent and relaxing, with open-ended goals, usually including a focus on growing or creative expression. Cozy Builder provides that relaxing environment, casting you as a builder summoned to help rebuild a small village following an earthquake. With a semi-open world, visiting different parts of the map and interacting with different villagers unlocks new objectives. While certain tasks are prompted in an order, there are no particular obstacles preventing the user from exploring any part of the world or completing any of the tasks that interest them. That includes rebuilding the different homes in the village in any order, or even partially completing one and moving on to another depending on the player’s preference. With zero combat or timed tasks, a rustic ambience with wandering farm animals, and lovely scenery, Cozy Builder delivers on the “cozy” aspect of its gameplay quite well.

What about the “builder”? I will say that resource gathering is greatly simplified by reducing the variety of materials to “building”, “decor”, or “garden” varieties rather than requiring specific amounts of wood, stone, glass, etc. to create each item needed for repairs. Since caches of building materials can be found throughout the village as well as in the mines, most of the complex part of the building gameplay comes not from generating the needed parts, but placing the correct pieces where they are needed. Two different hint functions can be toggled on and off, one from the settings menu that directs the player to a specific piece on the build menu that is needed nearby, and an in-game control that temporarily shows the outlines of the pieces still needed to complete a nearby structure.

Once buildings are repaired, you can use the gardening and decor materials to create furnishings and landscaping to customize each of the houses. While the limited menus might seem less appealing to those familiar with the endless options in other cozy games, I think that many people will enjoy stretching themselves to create unique spaces using the same aesthetic palette.

Completing the “master builder” quest, that is, rebuilding all of the damaged buildings in the village, only took three hours of total gameplay, although that also includes detours to: catch sheep, harvest grapes, make wine, weed someone’s tomato patch, and explore the mines. More complex was attempting to build a home for the player character. This can be done by purchasing and using blueprints from the town trader, but it can also be free-styled using some basic rules outlined in the journal. At this point, the building mechanic really becomes dependent on the player, with the game providing no real incentive to continue building structures. Similar to Minecraft creative mode, the player will be creating for the pleasure of it, and not to accomplish a particular goal.

The map was also really useful, especially once I started getting requests from villagers. Having focused mostly on building, I only encountered the very visible gatherable resources (honeycomb, water by the well, milk by the cows) and had no idea where the more foragable items like berries or nettles were located. There is actually quite a lot of field/forest area to explore, and not all of it is particularly resource-rich. I happened to check the map for something else, and the resources currently needed for my quests were marked on the map, along with all villagers who currently had new tasks I could take on.

I did try playing this game both with keyboard and mouse and with a controller. I found that the controller gave a smoother camera control experience, which helped a lot when trying to repair roofs or work on the second floors of houses. However, the select and other menu controls for the controller were not as intuitive compared to the keyboard, so I found myself using both for the biggest projects.

The developer of Cozy Builder, Pangea Game Studios, is a team of two developers, a married couple who have also published a pirate sim last year, Forgotten Seas. They have been very proactive in responding to community-reported bugs and have promised continued updates with optimizations and requested features. Considering that they were able to release Cozy Builder within a year of their first game between the two of them is very impressive, and I think they show a lot of integrity with the support they provide their players.

I think that the length of the main quest may be a turn off for those who are more interested in games more focused on achievements, levels, unlocking new areas, etc. However, I think those who are looking for the cozy element of a world that offers itself to be explored at an unhurried pace will be delighted with Cozy Builder.

Alyssa reviewed Cozy Builder on PC with a provided review code. This review is based on the version of the game available at the time of writing and our score will not be changed.